The Fourth Man
by Ray by Another Name
Summary: The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.
1. Chapter 1

The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.

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The Fourth Man  
Chapter 1

Minato stood somewhat awkwardly behind the Hokage as two-thirds of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio stood in front of the desk. The Third looked them up and down before meeting their eyes. Injuries were evident on both the men – a bandaged arm and lots of bruises for Chouza and cuts on the length of Inoichi's legs.

"I am adding a medic-nin to your team." The Hokage's voice was deadpanned. Minato looked at him in shock – no one had managed to penetrate the friendship of the three men, not Chouza's wife, not Inoichi's girlfriend.

Inoichi balked quickly, "We don't need another man, Nara has –"

"Nara can't heal himself," the Hokage raised his hand to silence Inoichi, "And his abilities have not made much of a difference lately."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, we work best alone," Chouza attempted to reason, but Minato could tell the Hokage would not be swayed on this. He hadn't even paused in his smoking, the pipe still solidly perched on his lip.

The Hokage sighed, smoke filling the air, "Yes, the famous Ino-Shika-Chou formation, I know." He rested his head on top of his raised hands, "I also know it allows you three to support one another's reckless behavior. Something I can no longer allow."

Inoichi huffed, but remained silent as he traded a look with Chouza. Minato could see the gears in their heads working – thinking of ways to ditch the medic already.

"You will not be able to work any A or S-Ranked missions without Yoshino," the Hokage stipulated, seeing the same thing as Minato.

"Yoshino?" "A woman?!"

Minato knew Shikaku was not going to take this lying down – the control freak that he was and the womanizer he pretended he wasn't. Eyeing the Hokage Minato began to wonder if that was the reason this meeting was taking place while the Nara was incapable of coming.

Shikaku was lying down in his bed, staring at the ceiling in absolute boredom. The medic-nin had already stopped two of his escape attempts. A broken leg and the pain meds were slowing him down or she never would have been able to.

"Now, if you try to leave without my permission again, I'll sedate you," the woman was infuriating. He pulled on the restraints a bit to test them, she immediately tightened them.

He glanced at the leather binding, seeing how they cut into his skin he spoke, "Isn't this a bit overkill?" She ignored him and he sighed, "Troublesome woman."

She glared at him for a moment before moving to his leg. She began to form hand-signs to mend bone, but Shikaku scoffed at technique.

"Those won't work," he said, watching her movements with amusement, "You have to set the bone before you can fuse it back together."

"And what exactly do you think I did when you first came in?"

Shikaku yawned, thinking back to his first conscious memories after the mission, "Made a lot of unnecessary noise to wake me up?" She growled and he added, "Oh, and you tripped me after that."

"You were trying to escape!" Hands on her hip she glowered down at the Nara before moving her attention back to his leg. With a final deep-breathe she made the necessary hand-signs, trying to ignore Shikaku's gripping.

"Can I leave now?" Shikaku yawned again, "I'm suppose to be meeting with the Hokage." She eyed him for a moment and then patted the leg she'd just healed. He started, cringing at the pain where the leg was still sensitive.

Smirking, she said with voice dripping with acid, "If you wanted to meet with the Hokage than you shouldn't have gotten yourself injured." Shikaku tried to argue but she pressed on his leg again. Once he was silent the medic-nin left the room, "I'll go get that sedative now."

She stalked out the room as he called insults after her. At the door she ran into Chouza and Inoichi, with a quick scowl they parted for her.

"Finally, some decent company," Shikaku struggled against his restraints as he attempted to gesture angrily, "Get me out of here before that crazy broad gets back."

Inoichi immediately began to laugh. Chouza smiled nervously at the confused Nara. No one touched his restraints. This was going to be interesting.

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	2. Chapter 2

The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.

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The Fourth Man  
Chapter 2

Yoshino was hit with the desire to stab her team leader for what must have been the hundredth time. It was her first mission with the Ino-Shika-Chou trio and it was far from what she had imagined. So far they'd kept to themselves at every turn – excluding her from mission planning, mission prep, and now, they were trying to exclude her from the mission itself.

"Look, we just don't know your skill level well enough to trust you yet," Chouza tried to placate her. Inoichi nodded along with that, mention something idiotic about watching before doing.

"I can't help if I don't know what's going on," Yoshino crossed her arms defiantly, glaring at Shikaku. She knew full-well who was behind her treatment on this team.

Shikaku raised an eyebrow challengingly, "Maybe next time, Chunin." He turned his back, calling for Chouza and Inoichi to follow after him. Yoshino wasn't stupid enough to follow them when she had no idea what the mission was, let alone the mission plan.

Shikaku returned with Inoichi's body a few hours later. Inoichi was scouting the area through the eyes of a bird high above the trees. Yoshino was waiting up in a tree. Shikaku barely acknowledge her as he set Inoichi's body up against the trunk.

Yoshino did her best not to let his snub anger her, she focused on keeping her eyes peeled for anything peculiar. In the flash of a moment Inoichi startled back – a warning half way out of his mouth – as three ninjas came at the two jounins.

Shikaku was quick enough to keep the attackers from getting at the still disoriented Inoichi, but a kunai sliced at his face before he could dodge completely. Yoshino threw down a smoke bomb, following after it herself.

The attackers began bombarding Shikaku with shuriken and he was forced to dodge. Inoichi managed to get to his feet to take out one attacker, while Yoshino used the cover to trap the last to in a genjutsu before slitting their throats.

When the smoke cleared Shikaku's face was bloodied and Inoichi was nursing some bruised ribs. Yoshino gave a heavy side as she forced the Nara male to sit down.

Chouza came to the rendezvous point to face a scene of great confusion. Yoshino was grumbling at Shikaku angrily as she bandaged two very deep cuts on his face, who for his part was looking absolutely miserable. And then there was Inoichi, amusement hidden somewhat decently as he kept guard over the two bickering ninjas.

"You'll have scars," Yoshino told Shikaku, her voice one step above a growl, "But it shouldn't take too long to heal if we keep it well taken care of."

Shikaku nodded, eyeing her carefully before speaking, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Yoshino did growl this time, "I'd kill you myself, but the Hokage made me promise before he assigned me to your team."

Shikaku took a moment to look insulted before sighing, "I owe you an apology."

Yoshino paused in her task, bandages half-way into the pouch on her leg, "Yes."

"I'm much better at favors, can I just owe you one?" Yoshino scoffed at his words, getting up with a glare on her face. Inoichi raised his hands in surrender as she came over to inspect his wounds.

Chouza exchanged a quick look with his blond teammate before choosing to remain silent. A silence that continued all the way back to Konoha and the Hokage's office.

"You have nothing to add to this report Yoshino?" Minato asked after he skimmed the paper Inoichi had handed him. Yoshino graced him with a look that he was fairly certain could match Kushina, "Nevermind." He then looked at Shikaku, "You should probably go check in at the hospital."

"He will be," Yoshino said, not even looking at the Nara. He didn't protest as she pushed him towards the hospital the second they were out of Minato's sight, "You too, Yamanaka, I want those ribs seen to immediately."

Chouza helped her coral the two into the waiting beds of the hospital. And once there Yoshino took away Shikaku's bandages to rub disinfectant into the wounds.

She smiled, making him nervous, "I know what I want. Shikaku looked at her suspicious, and she pinched his cheek for moving, "You said you would owe me a favor."

"What do you want then?" Shikaku was nervous at the prospect. She seemed the devious sort and he'd given her more than enough reason to hate him.

"The medicine book," Yoshino said, looking at him expectantly, "Everyone knows the Naras have a book full of the best herb medicines. I want to read it."

Shikaku laughed, cringing at the pain it caused to his face, "That book has not been out of the hands of the Clan head ever."

"And you're the head of the Nara clan," Yoshino smirked at him, eyes like daggers, "Unless you don't think my saving your life is worth a quick peak."

In the bed next to him Inoichi had finally given in to his amusement. His and Chouza's laughter was heard all the way down the hall, waking a well-known blonde in her office. The two would soon regret that.

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	3. Chapter 3

The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.

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The Fourth Man  
Chapter 3

Shikaku opened his front door with more force than was necessary. He froze when he saw Yoshino. Her hair was loose. She wore a dress of pale green that flattered her nicely. He'd never seen her outside of her mission clothes and she looked more like one of the village girls he liked flirting with.

"Going to let me in, Nara?" Yoshino was still Yoshino though. She pushed past him into the house. Shikaku was suddenly more conscious of the mess and clutter in which he lived. Yoshino said nothing though. She merely took of her shoes and stepped into the living room.

She looked back at him with an expectant look. Shikaku shook himself out of the stupor, "Right. The book is in my bedroom." He passed her, leading her through the halls of his childhood home to the master bedroom he'd begun to occupy only a year before.

Upon entering the room Yoshino shook her head. Eyeing the pile of laundry in the corner of the room she said, "You're the quintessential bachelor aren't you Nara?"

"Sorry?" Shikaku shrugged, his mother said something like that a lot, there was no good way to respond.

Yoshino laughed, "It's fine." She actually managed a small smile, "I'm use to the mess, three younger brothers."

"Oh,"

"The book?" Yoshino had taken a seat on the bed – the only thing devoid of clutter really.

"Right." Shikaku walked around to his bedside table, unlocking the drawer to take out the only thing kept in there. He handed it over to her, "This is it."

She opened it immediately, a smile instantly adorning her face as she poured through the hand-written instructions.

Shikaku wondered what he was meant to do in this situation. He stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, just watching her read before speaking, "I…I have a meeting with the elders, is it ok to leave you alone here?"

Yoshino looked up at him, a soft smile still glued to her cheeks, "Of course. Good luck." She sat back on his bed, quickly absorbed back into the pages. He left a bit ruffled by his behavior, women never made him nervous like Yoshino did.

-'-

"Yes, mother, I know I have to listen to them, but I don't have to take every piece of their advice." Shikaku grumbled as he opened the door for his mother. She walked in ahead of him and broke immediately into a smile.

"I see I managed to beat something into that stubborn head," Nara Kashihara patted her son's shoulder before moving towards the kitchen, "I'm going to fix some tea, dear, then we can talk more about your lack of tact with the elders."

While she had beamed at the sight of his clean home, Shikaku was agitated. He heard the washing machine going as he walked past the laundry room. He opened his bedroom door violently, ready to yell at Yoshino for not respecting his home and his privacy.

The sight of her asleep, on his freshly-made bed, stopped him in his track. She looked so peaceful, her chest rising and falling slowly. The book of herbs was sitting next to her head. Shikaku backed out of the room, closing the door softly.

"Now, tell me, Shikaku," his mother pushed him into a chair the second he returned to the kitchen, "How's your team?" She busied herself getting the cups and the kettle so didn't notice the blush come across her son's face.

"Pretty much the same," Shikaku lied, looking pointedly out the window rather than at her face, "Nothing to report."

Kashihara poured the tea and sat across from him "Oh? What about Inoichi's little girlfriend, has he proposed? And your face, you haven't told me the story behind those scars yet."

"You won't be satisfied till you've married all of us off will you?" Shikaku smiled at her, avoiding her second question, "You just finish with Choza and Mariposa."

"Of course not," she scoffed, "You have four younger brothers and I expect a grandson from you before the youngest is ready for a wife."

He glowered at that, "Why you bug Ikoma about that? He's married"

"Ikoma is too young to be a father," she narrowed her eyes on him over her cup of tea, "You, on the other hand, are suppose to be finding a suitable wife to raise your heir."

"I don't want a wife."

"Don't mutter, it's childish," Kashihara chided him reflexively, "And since when did want become a factor in anything. This is about the continuity of our clan, it is far more important than any personal desires."

Shikaku rolled his eyes, "I have four brothers and six male cousins, mother, I think the continuity is secure."

She placed her cup of tea down, hard, "That I not the point, Shikaku, as you are well aware." He focused back out the window, "It was a difficult transition when you're uncle died before having children. Your father was not prepared to lead this clan."

"Yeah, well, neither was I," Shikaku shot back, "And Ikoma is better fit for this sort of thing anyway."

Kashihara sighed, standing up, "But he is not the one fate chose for this. You are. You will be a strong leader in time." She placed her hand on his shoulder, kissing the top of his head, "Now, stop whining and get yourself a wife." They both laughed.

"Shikaku?" Yoshino's voice was a bit groggy from sleep and she started at Kashihara's piercing gaze.

"And, who is this?" Kashihara's hand tightened on Shikaku's shoulder.

He flinched, "This is Yoshino, my new teammate." Kashihara's head snapped to look at her son as he gestured to his mother, "Yoshino, this is my mother – Nara Kashihara."

"It is a pleasure," Yoshino bowed her head slightly.

"You as well," Kashihara nodded, "When did you join Shikaku's team?"

The grip on Shikaku's shoulder tightened again, "Just before this last mission. The hokage assigned me as a medic-nin. "

Kashihara's nails and eyes were like needles. Shikaku looked sheepish under her gaze, "She healed your face." And then looking around the house she realized, "And cleaned your house."

"Yes," Shikaku said nervously as a smirk began to bloom on his mother's face. She patted his shoulder again and made a quick goodbye.

"We'll talk later, Shikaku," her parting had sounded very much like a threat to her eldest.

Yoshino looked confused as Shikaku slunk down in his seat sulking, "Is something the matter?" She took the seat his mother had occupied.

"I was hoping she wouldn't see you," Shikaku told her with a sigh.

"Why?" Yoshino's back instantly straightened at the comment.

Shikaku laughed, "Because now she's going to want me to marry you."

"What?!"

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	4. Chapter 4

The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.

* * *

The Fourth Man  
Chapter 4

Inoichi was laughing obnoxiously next to him and Shikaku could see Choza's lips threatening to crack into a smile across from him, "You're both horrible friends!" This only made Inoichi laugh more.

"Really, Shikaku, you'd be just as amused were the situation reverese," Choza grinned at his friend, "And things could be much worse after all."

"Yoshino is refusing to be within ten feet of me and my mother is planning our wedding," Shikaku reiterated the outcomes from his story, "How could things be worse?!"

"Yoshino could be helping your mother plan the wedding," Choza said, knowing how much Shikaku hated the idea of getting married. When his friend huffed and sat back in his chair both Choza and Inoichi took note.

Inoichi poked Shikaku in the face, "Unless you think that would be better."

"Do you like Yoshino?" Choza leaned forward across the table. The two were smirking, a pair of jackals playing with their food.

Shikaku scoffed and turned away from his friends, "As if, she's far too bothersome."

"Bothersome?" the three men all jumped at the sound of the new voice. They turned to see Yoshino standing in front of their table, a small boy with her was holding a few containers of take out, "I'm too bothersome? You're the one whose family is trying to marry us and I'm bothersome?!"

The little boy was staring up at Yoshino nervously, "Sister…"

"Quiet, Uda," Yoshino snapped at him, anger radiating from her as she leveled her three teammates with a glare, "And I do not appreciate being talked about behind my back. You three are acting like a bunch of immature idiots."

She turned quickly on her heels and stalked out of the restaurant, the little boy – Uda, who Shikaku was fairly certain was one of her younger brothers – ran after her with the food. The three men breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed behind her.

Then the door opened again and she yelled across the restaurant, "You better pray you don't get hurt on our next mission, Nara! I will not be gentle like I was last time." The door swung shut again and the three men remained tense as the whole of the restaurant turned to look at them.

Shikaku finally broke the silence when he muttered, "That was gentle?" Inoichi chuckled nervously.

"Maybe we shouldn't discuss that," Choza said, looking over his shoulder at the door.

Inoichi scoffed, smiling as he shoved Shikaku's shoulder, "It figures you would fall for the bossy, violent type." Shikaku scowled at that, "She's a lot like your mother actually." Inoichi didn't laugh this time, but in his defense it is difficult to laugh when someone is trying to strangle you.

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	5. Chapter 5

The original Ino-Shika-Chou is getting an addition to their squad and Shikaku is not happy with the Hokage's choice. Shikaku/Yoshino. Pre-Canon Naruto. Rated K.

* * *

The Fourth Man  
Chapter 5

The newly minted quartet were assembled before the Hokage. The Third listened intently to Shikaku's report from the A ranked mission. It was fairly standard, kind of dull actually if you asked Minato – not that anyone did. Well, the Hokage did, occasionally, otherwise Shikaku and his team would have been sent on the S ranked mission.

An S ranked mission was far from a good idea – Shikaku and Yoshino were still trading tense looks and stunted conversations. Minato had seem them exchange greetings just a week earlier, never had he heard a more loaded 'Hello' in his whole life.

Once the Hokage had dismissed the team he looked to Minato, blowing out a sigh and a puff of smoke, "What do you think Minato?"

"They're still fighting," Minato sighed, leaning against the desk, "It's been almost a month without much change."

Another puff of smoke, "What do you recommend?"

Minato paused, "Perhaps it's time the team split if things cannot be rectified soon."

The Hokage was practically expressionless, it was more than a little unnerving. When he turned his seat around to stare out the window Minato let out a quiet sigh – working under the Hokage was more stressful than he had thought it would be.

-.-

Shikaku plopped into the booth of the barbeque joint beside Inoichi. Chouza was late and Ioichi sat there awkwardly – and uncharacteristically quiet – while they waited.

"Sorry I'm late!" Chouza was beaming as he walked towards them, no doubt he'd been home since their debrief with the Hokage.

Inoichi shrugged it off, "No rush." Shikaku narrowed suspicious eyes on his best friend.

"What's going on?" Shikaku got right to the point, "You said it was important."

Inoichi fiddled with his thumbs, "Yes. I have some news."

"You finally proposed!" Chouza guessed, all ready to order champagne until he saw the panicked expression on Inoichi's face.

He waved his hands in front of him, "No! No! Definitely not!" Shikaku smiled at his obvious fear.

"So, what is it then?" Shikaku prodded him with his elbow, "I'm growing old here."

"The Interrogation Squad approached me," Inoichi started, "They'd like me to join them on a more permanent basis."  
Chouza and Shikaku remained silent.

"I'm going to accept," Inoichi told them, rambling on about better pay and hours and steady work. Shikaku tuned him out. Chouza slammed his hand on the table good-naturally, calling the waitress to bring them some drinks to toast with.

Shikaku attempted to put on a good face, congratulating his friend and toasting to his good fortune. After what felt like hours of eating and discussing when Inoichi would make the break the three left. Chouza headed home to spend the night in and Inoichi went in search of his girlfriend to tell her the good news.

That left Shikaku alone, to walk – or more aptly, to wander – around Konoha and to try to wrap his head around this new development. Logically he had known the team could not remain intact forever, hell, they were probably lucky to have stayed together for so long. All the other 3-man cells from their academy class had split up by the time they were fifteen. Twenty had come and gone but Shikaku still wasn't prepared.

Pausing for a moment Shikaku realized he'd walked to Yoshino's neighborhood. Her home was only a few doors down. Well, someone had to tell her the team was breaking up.

Shikaku was standing in front of the door, hand half-way to knocking, when Yoshino opened the door. "Shikaku," her voice was icy when she met his eye.

"Hello, Yoshino," Shikaku cleared his throat. He fidgeting, putting his hands back into his pockets. He stepped back as Yoshino moved to leave the doorway. He stood awkwardly by as she closed the door, locking it.

"What do you want?" Yoshino was stiff as she turned to walk down the street.

Shikaku followed a step behind her, "I need to talk to you, about the team." She raised an eyebrow at him, but otherwise remained unchanged, "Inoichi is joining the interrogation squad next month."

"Which effectively disbands the team," Yoshino nodded, pausing for a moment, "I understand." Then she turned to face him, stopping him in his slow tracks, "I don't understand why you came to tell me though. I would have been informed when it is made official."

Yoshino eyed him suspiciously as Shikaku ducked the question, "Where are you going?"

"Shopping," they continued to walk again, Yoshino only half a step ahead. She looked back at him over her shoulder, not unkindly, "You can join me if you like." Shikaku nodded, a smile tugging lightly at his mouth.

He followed her to the market, even carried the bags full of fruit and veggies she began to collect from the stands. Neither of them spoke and Shikaku figured that was a good thing, given their history. Conversation was not their strong suit.

"You're going to miss him, huh?" Yoshino spoke, looking at Shikaku with a soft expression.

"Yeah," Shikaku looked everywhere but at Yoshino, "He's my best friend after all."

Yoshino placed a loaf of bread in her basket, handing off the money to the stall owner before turning to Shikaku. She waited until his eyes landed back on her, "He'll always be your friend, long after you stop being teammates."

The way she smiled at him had Shikaku rubbing his head. "We've each got very different lives though," he said as he followed Yoshino to the next stall, "Without the team we –"

"No." Yoshino cut him off.

Shikaku stopped in the middle of the street, "What?"

"No." Yoshino looked at him over her shoulder, "If you want to stay friends, stay friends. Don't make excuses." She was a few yards ahead of him before Shikaku shook himself out of his stupor and ran after her.

Once they return to her block, to her house, to her door Shikaku grows nervous. She's about to open her door when he speaks.

"Yoshino," she turned back around to face him, "Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

The soft smile from earlier appears and she nods, "Just promise not to tell your mother." He nods, chuckling. 

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